Frozen Spark
by Loopstagirl
Summary: He wasn't supposed to be the one left behind, watching and listening as space stole two brothers and a storm took a third.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their rightful owners._

_Another one shot for you, this time inspired by the episode, Sun Probe. Enjoy._

* * *

Virgil knew the sorts of noises he could hear coming from Thunderbird Three's hangar were not a good sign. He knew that John was in space and Brains was in his lab, still tinkering away with Braman as if he was going to solve every mystery known to man with that machine. But with those two out of the way, he knew the only other person who should even dream of touching the mechanics in the Thunderbirds was him. The others simply didn't have the knowledge.

They might be able to handle a few emergency repairs out in the field if the situation demanded it of them. But it was a general rule that the 'birds were not to be touched by anyone apart from Brains while they were on the island unless special permission had been granted. The machines protected and helped save not only strangers' lives, but theirs as well. For the sake of playing around, it just wasn't worth it.

Virgil had been on his way to his own craft, wanting to do a stock check. At least, that was what he had had told his father. He actually just wanted to make sure the exposure to the extreme cold hadn't done any harm. Most of the snow had melted by the time they had reached base again, but Virgil could only imagine what she must have looked like and it had been enough to send yet more shivers down his spine. If he went for the rest of eternity without shivering, that wouldn't be long enough for him.

The sounds had drawn his attention though and Virgil found that his feet were moving before he truly realised what he was doing. He didn't know who else would be down here. Alan was still basking in the fact that Tin-Tin was holding him responsible for the successful mission. As far as Virgil understood, it had been Tin-Tin to fire the beam, but Alan was certainly enjoying the attention. Scott had gone for a run and Gordon…

Virgil groaned.

Gordon couldn't be found.

He had assumed that meant the man was in the pool or his room, they were the usual places if he wasn't in the lounge. Virgil hadn't thought to check, he didn't think he had needed to. But hearing the sounds coming from Three and the fact that his brother had been absent from upstairs, he was beginning to put things together.

And he wasn't liking what his mind was coming up with.

Gordon had been the happiest of them all when both Thunderbird craft finally arrived back at the island. The reunion had been short; all of them involved with the rescue had been too tired to do much. Virgil had found himself sitting on Scott's bed rather than his own when he realised how close to losing his brothers he had become and the two of them had talked for an hour or so. Virgil couldn't remember falling asleep, but he woke up in his own bed. He couldn't be sure that Alan had stayed around for Gordon either.

"John?" Lifting his watch, Virgil patched himself through to the brother who would be able to help from afar.

"_Yes?"_

"Do you know where Gords is?" To Virgil's surprise, there was silence on the other end for a long moment before John sighed.

"_Considering the reading that I'm getting from your watch, I know you are in the silos. I'm guessing that means you don't need to ask me."_

"I…" Virgil trailed off. John never normally sounded that abrupt with him and the final piece of the puzzle fell into place for Virgil. "He's not handling this well, is he?"

Virgil couldn't believe he had missed it. But he and Scott had naturally gravitated towards each other. And Alan had gone to Tin-Tin. Normally, Gordon could guarantee that Alan would be clinging to him like a limpet, telling him all the details over and over again. Only this time, Gordon had been left on his own. Technically, John had as well but Virgil knew they had all checked in and had a long talk with the space-bound brother. It didn't matter how tired they were or what the situation was, it had become something of a habit to talk to John after a rescue. It was their way of making sure space didn't steal their brother from them.

But no one had had that long talk with Gordon.

After he thought that three of them could have died and Virgil was stuck in a storm on the other side of the world. Letting out a curse, Virgil disconnected. He knew John would understand as he hurried into Three's hangar.

Sure enough, there were tools everywhere and the entrance hatch to the rocket was open. Virgil could see a pair of legs dangling through and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. If Gordon was still sitting there, it meant he wasn't actually working on the rocket as such. Carefully picking his way through the tools, Virgil leant casually against the hangar wall, making sure he gave Gordon his space.

"What you doing?" He called cheerfully, knowing it was hard to make Gordon open up when he needed to.

"Nothing."

"You know that makes me suspicious, kid," Virgil sauntered closer, trying to make his body language disguise the fact his heart was pounding hard. Mainly with guilt, for he couldn't believe it hadn't crossed his mind to check on Gordon earlier.

"Whatever."

Virgil shook his head as he reached the rocket. Gordon sounded stressed and drawn; everything that could have been avoided if one of them had taken five minutes to reassure him it was over and that they were all home safe. As Virgil got closer, Gordon's legs disappeared into the rocket. It was clear that he didn't want to talk. He seemed to be banging on something, but Virgil wondered if he was just punching the side of the rocket in frustration and using it to pretend that he was busy so Virgil went away again.

Knowing that was not going to be happening any time soon, Virgil took a small step backwards. Satisfied Gordon was making too much noise to hear him, he lifted his watch again.

"Scott? Code red in Three's hangar," he muttered. Scott didn't ask questions, just told him that he was already on his way. Something told Virgil that Scott had figured out the Gordon situation far faster.

"You going to let me in, Gords?" Moving closer again, Virgil stretched up. His fingertips just grazed the hatch but it was enough for him to give a small bounce and hoist himself up. In just a few moments, he was sitting in Gordon's previous position with his legs dangling out of the hatch. Gordon was leaning against the wall opposite, one hand red and swollen but no tools in his hands. He was staring at Virgil, an annoyed expression on his face.

"What has a guy got to do for a bit of peace and quiet in this place? You know I could just push you out with where you are sitting?"

"You could," Virgil didn't sound the slightest bit concerned as he glanced at his brother. "Or you could let me see your hand before you do any further damage and tell me why you are punching a rocket. You know what John would say."

"If he ever comes home," Gordon muttered, sliding down until his legs were stretched out in front of him and the tension had left his body. Without a word, Virgil reached for his hand and was glad when his brother let him. They didn't speak for a few moments as Virgil examined the damage Gordon might have done and was pleased that although he would get a few spectacular bruises, Gordon hadn't done more damage than that.

By the time he had proclaimed his patient fit for action if it didn't involve more punching of rockets, Scott had arrived. Virgil shifted over a bit and it wasn't long before there were three Tracys sitting in the base of a rocket. Scott shuddered slightly as he glanced around.

"Not sure how I feel about this thing now," he muttered honestly. Virgil knew how his brother felt; they had talked for a long time what had happened. But Scott seemed to be using it as an opening to get Gordon to talk and so he didn't react to it. When Gordon remained silent, the two elder brothers exchanged worried glances.

"Bet it is always going to feel a little too hot in here for you now, isn't it?" Virgil asked, eyes on Gordon as he tried to get a reaction. It continued in this manner for some time. Virgil and Scott had a very stilted conversation about what had happened as they tried to get Gordon to vent what was on his mind. Virgil was just wondering how much longer they could actually keep it up when Gordon finally spoke.

"I know what you are doing and stop it."

"Then tell us why you are hiding in the one Thunderbird you basically hate," Scott responded immediately. It was no secret that Gordon hated space; it was the opposite in so many ways compared to underwater. It was why Tin-Tin had been the third member to go on the rescue. No doubt that was just something else playing on Gordon's mind. They had nearly died out there and it should have been him with them, not Tin-Tin.

"Why should I? You're not my shrink."

"No, but we are your brothers," Virgil said softly, knowing that Gordon's bluntness was because he was getting close to cracking and didn't want others to see his weakness. Unfortunately for him, his brothers knew him well.

"And we want to help," Scott finished and Gordon finally looked up. He stared first at Virgil, then at Scott. Then he dropped his gaze.

"Do you have any idea what it was like listening to you, Virg, on the radio saying it didn't look good for Scott and the others? At least you were out there trying to save him. I could hear how close to cracking you were. You snapped at Brains. You never snap at Brains. But you had someone to vent frustration on and you were doing what you could to make sure they came home."

Virgil and Scott exchanged looks. Virgil had known as soon as John had snapped at him what was going on with Gordon. He and Scott had talked about their latest brush with death. But hearing Gordon saying it out loud made Virgil realise just how close to losing three members of their family –extended or otherwise – they had truly been.

"And what could I do?" Now that Gordon had started, it was as if there was no stopping him. Not that his brothers would want to stop him. They all knew Gordon would feel better for getting it off his chest.

"I just had to be here and keep calm so that Dad didn't completely fall apart. I had to see the look on his face when he heard the news. And Kyrano's. I had to be the strong one when Al…you, Scott…"

"When you thought we weren't coming home," Scott said softly, leaning over to squeeze Gordon's shoulder. The younger man shrugged him off quickly and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"I'm not supposed to be the one left behind," Gordon muttered. "I should have been on that ship and Tin-Tin safely at home. But I was the one here. I didn't even get to go with Virgil and try to help, I just had to sit and listen…" Gordon broke off, shuddering. This time, when Virgil's hand landed on his shoulder, Gordon let it happen.

"We're home, Gords," he whispered softly.

"It's alright for you," Gordon retorted, "you're always involved with the rescues, you don't have to sit and listen to a small radio tell you the rest of your family might not be coming home. What would have happened to John if you had never made it back? Does he have enough supplies up there to last him until Brains built a new rocket?"

"We would have got John home," Scott said but Virgil scooted forward so he could look Gordon in the eye.

"You might have been the one left behind this time, but I do know what it is like to hear that radio call. At least there was a voice on the other end. When Scott was shot down, there was silence. Silence telling me that something was very wrong and I didn't know what. I couldn't be the strong one for Dad, I couldn't help because I didn't know what was wrong."

"Or when there is silence but you can see what is wrong by the great plume of smoke billowing from Thunderbird Two as it falls into an uncontrollable dive. When you're watching it happen and know there is nothing you can do but continue to shout into the radio with the hope someone does hear you," Scott added, shooting Virgil a look. It was a strange look, but Virgil knew what it meant. Scott had never quite managed to get over Virgil being shot down.

Gordon stared at them, and to Virgil's relief, the tension had left his body a little. He suddenly looked far younger and Virgil realised how much weight their job had put on them all. His little brother shouldn't look like this and Virgil punched Gordon's shoulder teasingly.

"We do know what it feels like, kiddo. This job gets in your head. All of us have a nightmare moment and I think this was just yours. But don't start punching rockets as a way of venting it, okay? Just come and talk to us."

Gordon stared down at his bruised hand and blushed. To Virgil's delight, he nodded and the artist knew their case had been made. Climbing to his feet, he hauled Gordon up but left Scott sitting where he was. Scott could get himself up.

"What were you trying to do, anyway?"

"Improve the cooling system," Gordon muttered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But I couldn't even find where it was."

Virgil laughed, dropping through the hatch and moving out of the way for his brothers to follow suit. He gave Gordon a nudge towards the elevators.

"Go and enjoy some sunshine, Gords. We'll finish up down here."

"Are you sure?"

"Beat it, kid," Scott nudged him in the right direction before turning to pick up some of the tools that Gordon had left scattered around the place. He let a whistle slide through his teeth at seeing the equipment Gordon had brought down.

"It's a good thing he couldn't find the cooling system," Scott muttered and Virgil agreed before beginning to walk away.

"I was going to run some checks on Two, you okay here?"

Scott grimaced as he stared up at the rocket but he nodded.

"Maybe doing a Gordon and punching some holes in this thing will make me feel better about it."

"Don't you dare," Virgil warned but there was a grin on his face and he turned to walk off. He knew Scott wouldn't deliberately hurt himself. The moment had passed now, Scott's anger and frustration at not being able to do more to help Alan had already been vented.

Virgil let out a sigh as he reached his own hangar, letting his hand brush over Thunderbird Two's hulk as he walked around to the entrance. Checks be damned, he just wanted some time in his girl without a radio crackling him and effectively telling him that his brothers were going to die. It took only a few moments before Virgil found himself in his pilot seat, sinking back into the welcoming shape and letting his feet rest on the dashboard in front of him. With the engines off, there was no fear of hitting anything.

But as he sat there, something caught his eye. Letting his feet drop and leaning forward, Virgil tugged. Instantly, a grin spread over his face.

It wasn't just Thunderbird Three that Gordon had visited. For Virgil was sure there was not a blanket, a hot water bottle and a stash of hot chocolate resting in Two's cockpit when he had needed it just a few days ago.


End file.
